Telegram founder Pavel Durov says he was targeted in poisoning attempt in 2018

Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging app Telegram, said in an interview published on Sept. 30 that he believes there was an attempt to poison him in the spring of 2018. In April of that year, a Moscow court issued a decision to ban the app amid a wider government effort to gain access to its encryption keys.

Durov made the poisoning claim in a conversation with podcaster Lex Fridman, emphasizing that he had never before spoken about the incident publicly, as he “didn’t want people to freak out, particularly at the time.”

“We were trying to raise funds for TON, a blockchain project, working with all kinds of VCs and investors. In the meantime, we had a couple of countries trying to ban Telegram, so it wasn't exactly the best moment for me to start sharing anything related to my personal health. But that was something that is hard to forget. I never felt ill [before that]. I believe I have perfect health. I very rarely have headaches or a bad cough. I don't take pills because I don't have to take pills. And that was the only instant in my life when I think I was dying,” Durov said, speaking in English.

According to Durov, he was living in a rented townhouse at the time, though he did not specify the country. He said he had a “strange neighbor.” One day, when he returned home, he saw “something” that the neighbor had left at his door. An hour later, Durov said, he began to feel very ill.

“I felt pain all over my body. I tried to get up and go to the bathroom. But while I was going there, I felt that functions of my body started to switch off. First, the eyesight and hearing, then I had difficulty breathing. Everything accompanied by very acute pain — heart, stomach, all blood vessels,” he continued.

Durov said he lost consciousness and woke up only the next day, feeling extreme weakness and noticing that “blood vessels all over [his] body had burst.” He said he was unable to walk for two weeks. Choosing not to inform his team, he spent the time alone at home. He did not say whether he sought medical treatment.

As mentioned above, in April 2018, Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor won a court ruling to block Telegram in the country after the company refused to hand over encryption keys to the Federal Security Service. But by June, Roskomnadzor announced it had dropped plans to enforce the block, citing Durov’s willingness to “counter terrorism and extremism.”